The cry for freedom in Eastern Europe began in 1956, in Hungary when Hungarians decided to revolt the Stalinist  government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956.

The revolt began, while a student demonstration attracted thousands and students and other fellow citizens marched through central Budapest. The revolt spread across Hungary and the Soviet force invaded Budapest and others parts of the country. Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians fled as refugees in the West, while others were jailed, beaten, tortured and executed.

In the late 1960s, the Prague Spring began when a reformist Slovak, Alexander Dubček came to power, and continued until 21 August when the Soviet Union and members of its Warsaw Pact allies invaded the country to halt the reforms. The purpose of of the movement was to grant freedom to citizen and loose restrictions on the media, the speech and the travel. The reforms were not accepted by the Soviet Union and thousands of Warsaw Pact troops occupied the country.

In the 1980s, a Solidarity movement was formed in Poland. It was the first non-Communist trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. The Solidarity Movement was founded in Gdansk and its was usually associated with the Catholic Church. Its ideology was to advocate non-violent ideas and fight against Communism in Poland.

On November 9th at the Bornholmer bridge, East German border guards faced a 20,000-strong crowd of people from East Berlin. They were chanting about opening the gate and some flooded to West Berlin.

Katrin Hattenhauer is a dissident who had been jailed in Leipzig. When she was released, she was banned from going in Berlin. She sad that it was her birthday on November 9th and she met with some friends in East Berlin.

She was surprised, when she heard that the borders were open and she was overwhelmed. In 1990, Germany was a unified country and years later, Communism started to fall because it was a house without any strong foundation. The house was build on sand.

Why have I written this blog?

I have written this blog because I have realized that freedom is not something which you must take for granted. There are lots of people who have paid the price for it. The right to be who you are and speak your mind is very important in a healthy society. Today, 20  years later Germany is unified and free and Europe became united with 15 new members, since 2004. This is a history that has changed the world forever. Please defend your values against those who are enemies of freedom. You fight for freedom, when it’s here, not when it’s gone.

For more information on the struggle for freedom in Eastern Europe, please go to these following websites.

The Prague Spring

http://library.thinkquest.org/C001155/index1.htm

Hungary 1956

http://www.hungary1956.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956

Poland 1989

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/11/09/it-all-began-in-poland-1939-1989/

German reunification

http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/germany/unif.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-joy-of-freedom-20-years-on-1817707.html